II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1046 

To accelerate the adoption of smart building technologies in the private 

sector and key Federal agencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Ms. CANTWELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To accelerate the adoption of smart building technologies 

in the private sector and key Federal agencies. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Building Accel5 eration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the building sector uses more than 40 per9 cent of the energy of the Nation; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1046 IS

1 (2) emerging building energy monitoring and 

2 control technologies are enabling a transition of the 

3 building sector to ‘‘smart’’ buildings that have dra4 matically reduced energy use and improved quality 

5 of service to occupants; 

6 (3) an analysis of select private-sector smart 

7 buildings by the Department of Energy would docu8 ment the costs and benefits of those emerging tech9 nologies, promote their adoption, and accelerate that 

10 transition; 

11 (4) with over 400,000 buildings, the Federal 

12 Government is the largest building owner in the 

13 United States; and 

14 (5) the Federal Government can also accelerate 

15 the transition to smart building technologies by dem16 onstrating and evaluating emerging smart building 

17 technologies using existing programs and funding to 

18 showcase selected Federal smart buildings. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

22 the smart building program established under sec23 tion 5(a). 

24 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Energy. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1046 IS

1 (3) SMART BUILDING.—The term ‘‘smart build2 ing’’ means a building with an energy system that— 

3 (A) is flexible and automated; 

4 (B) has extensive operational monitoring 

5 and communication connectivity, allowing re6 mote monitoring and analysis of all building 

7 functions; 

8 (C) is integrated with the overall building 

9 operations for control of energy generation, con10 sumption, and storage; and 

11 (D) communicates with utilities and other 

12 third party commercial entities where appro13 priate. 

14 SEC. 4. SURVEY OF PRIVATE SECTOR SMART BUILDINGS. 

15 (a) SURVEY.—The Secretary shall conduct a survey 

16 of privately owned smart buildings throughout the Nation, 

17 including commercial buildings and buildings owned by 

18 nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher edu19 cation. 

20 (b) SELECTION.—From among the smart buildings 

21 surveyed under subsection (a), the Secretary shall select 

22 at least 1 building each from an appropriate range of 

23 building sizes and types. 

24 (c) EVALUATION.—Using the guidelines of the Fed25 eral Energy Management Program relating to whole-buildVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 May 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1046.IS S1046

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1046 IS

1 ing evaluation, measurement, and verification, the Sec2 retary shall evaluate the costs and benefits of the buildings 

3 selected under subsection (b), including an identification 

4 of— 

5 (1) which advanced building technologies— 

6 (A) are most cost-effective; and 

7 (B) show the most promise for— 

8 (i) increasing building energy savings; 

9 (ii) increasing service performance to 

10 building occupants; and 

11 (iii) reducing environmental impacts; 

12 and 

13 (2) any other information the Secretary deter14 mines to be appropriate. 

15 SEC. 5. FEDERAL SMART BUILDING PROGRAM. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

17 a program to establish 1 or more smart buildings under 

18 the jurisdiction of several key Federal agencies, including 

19 buildings that are owned by the Federal Government but 

20 are commercially operated, to demonstrate the costs and 

21 benefits of smart buildings. 

22 (b) FEDERAL AGENCY DESCRIBED.—The key Fed23 eral agencies referred to in subsection (a) shall include— 

24 (1) the Department of Defense; 

25 (2) the Department of Energy; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1046 IS

1 (3) the Department of Veterans Affairs; and 

2 (4) the General Services Administration. 

3 (c) REQUIREMENT.—In carrying out the program, 

4 the Secretary shall leverage existing procurement mecha5 nisms. 

6 (d) EVALUATION.—Using the guidelines of the Fed7 eral Energy Management Program relating to whole-build8 ing evaluation, measurement, and verification, the Sec9 retary shall evaluate the costs and benefits of the buildings 

10 selected under this section including an identification of— 

11 (1) which advanced building technologies— 

12 (A) are most cost-effective; and 

13 (B) show the most promise for— 

14 (i) increasing building energy savings; 

15 (ii) increasing service performance to 

16 building occupants; and 

17 (iii) reducing environmental impacts; 

18 and 

19 (2) any other information the Secretary deter20 mines to be appropriate. 

21 SEC. 6. LEVERAGING EXISTING PROGRAMS. 

22 (a) BETTER BUILDING CHALLENGE.—As part of the 

23 Better Building Challenge of the Department of Energy, 

24 the Secretary shall develop a smart building accelerator 

25 in consultation with major private sector property owners 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1046 IS

1 to demonstrate innovative policies and approaches that 

2 will accelerate the transition to smart buildings. 

3 (b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

5 research and development to address key barriers to 

6 the integration of advanced building technologies 

7 and to accelerate the transition to smart buildings. 

8 (2) INCLUSION.—The research and development 

9 conducted under paragraph (1) shall include re10 search and development on— 

11 (A) physical components, such as sensors 

12 and controls; 

13 (B) reducing the cost of key components to 

14 accelerate the adoption of smart building tech15 nologies; 

16 (C) data management, including the cap17 ture and analysis of data and the interoper18 ability of the energy systems; 

19 (D) business models, including how busi20 ness models may limit the adoption of smart 

21 building technologies and how to support 

22 transactive energy; 

23 (E) characterization of buildings and com24 ponents; 

25 (F) consumer and utility protections; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1046 IS

1 (G) continuous management, including the 

2 challenges of managing multiple energy systems 

3 and optimizing systems for disparate stake4 holders; and 

5 (H) other areas of research and develop6 ment, as determined appropriate by the Sec7 retary. 

8 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

9 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

11 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

12 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

13 Representatives a report on— 

14 (1) the survey and evaluation of private sector 

15 smart buildings carried out under section 4; 

16 (2) the evaluation of Federal smart buildings 

17 carried out under section 5; and 

18 (3) any recommendations of the Secretary to 

19 further accelerate the transition to smart buildings. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS